5 common myths about disaster recovery

If you are a small business owner, you most likely wear a number of hats. Typically, the main hat worn by owners is for closing the sale, followed by hat #2, which of course covers getting paid for said sale. The IT hat is often far down the list, and in some circumstances is lucky to be in the top 10, if at all. It’s not until a small business has a crisis with their technology systems, perhaps from a natural disaster such as a flood or a virtual disaster such as a critical security breach, when a small business owner will have one of those “ruh-roh” moments. In this post, we will outline five common myths about disaster recovery, which will almost invariably lead to a real company disaster if the myths are not exposed for the catastrophes they really are.

Myth #1

The “Cloud” has saved the day for every small business! Just put all your data in the Cloud (whatever that is) and all your employees can magically access corporate data no matter how many floods or hurricanes hit.

Reality: Even “the Cloud” can fail when it is not protected against unexpected events. The Cloud does help to provide data redundancy but does not necessarily provide the data protection that Cloud backups do.

Myth #2

Data recovery efforts are a breeze and 100% of corporate data is always recovered.

Reality: This myth has the potential to be true if a company is well-prepared, but the question every business owner has to ask themselves is, “Are we really prepared for a data disaster?” If trying to answer this question in the affirmative gives a business owner a slightly queasy feeling, then really their answer is “no”. Let us also not forget that small businesses often hold confidential information about their clients and customers. If there is a data breach in your small business, are you really prepared to approach your customers with the bad news? Ouch.

Myth #3

Employees, especially the ones who work with your IT, just “know” how you want to get your business back on its feet after a data disaster. Vendors and contractors will also “know” how to easily work with your company after such an event.

Reality: If you don’t know whether you have a solid disaster recovery plan, your employees and the companies you work with are in the dark as well. As with almost every aspect of business, having a plan for clear communication between all interested parties is key to getting your business back on track as quickly as possible after a data breach or failure.

Myth #4

In the event of a natural disaster, everyone will rally around your company because your business is their number one priority.

Reality: While this is true in the case of a data breach or a natural disaster that only affects the physical assets of your business, this myth does not necessarily hold true in the case of a community-wide disaster. Flooding, fires, and the intense damage caused by tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. can put entire cities in survival mode. Relying solely upon your employees when they are all in the middle of a crisis as well is not necessarily a wise course of action. They may be an amazing group of people and yes, they do want to keep their jobs and support you, but family safety comes first.

Myth #5

Your customers will always remain loyal to you no matter what.

Reality: It might be a tough pill to swallow, but if your company was hit harder by a local natural disaster than a competitor they could very well view it as an opportunity to swoop in and suddenly become the best buddies of your (former) customers. Your customers may very well have a business of their own to run and as much as they might prefer to work with you, they will do what it takes to stay afloat for their own customers.

Summary

Well, we’ve certainly covered the bad and the ugly. So is there any good news about disaster recovery? Yes, actually there is. We are the good news when it comes to creating a solid plan for disaster recovery. Kotori Technologies has the knowledge and professional expertise to ensure the safety and integrity of one of your company’s most important assets — your data.